A new report titled ‘The State of Food and Agriculture 2023’, by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reveals the staggering hidden costs of unhealthy diets and ultra-processed foods, impacting both our health and the environment.These costs reach over USD 7 trillion annually and have far-reaching consequences.
Hidden costs in the context of agrifood systems include environmental expenses from emissions and land use, health costs related to dietary patterns, undernourishment and social costs associated with poverty among agrifood workers.
Key Findings of the State of Food and Agriculture 2023
Hidden Costs of Unhealthy Diets
- Unhealthy diets, characterized by the consumption of ultra-processed foods, fats, and sugars, lead to substantial hidden costs.
- These costs exceed USD 7 trillion annually, reflecting the economic burden of health-related issues like obesity and non-communicable diseases.
- Additionally, these diets result in decreased labour productivity, contributing to the overall hidden costs.
Global Impact and Economic Burden
- The majority of hidden costs were generated in upper-middle-income (39%) and high-income countries (36%), with lower-middle-income countries at 22% and low-income countries at 3%.
- The report estimates that unhealthy diets result in hidden costs equivalent to at least USD 10 trillion annually, which accounts for nearly 10% of the global gross domestic product (GDP).
- The analysis encompasses 154 countries, emphasizing the widespread implications of these dietary patterns.
Impact on India
- India’s total hidden costs in agrifood systems were approximately USD 1.1 trillion, ranking as the third-largest globally after China and the United States.
Major Contributors in India
- The burden of disease (productivity losses from dietary patterns) accounted for the largest share (60%) of hidden costs in India, followed by social costs of poverty (14%) and environmental costs from nitrogen emissions (13%).
Rapid Spread of Processed Foods
- The consumption of highly processed foods is on the rise in peri-urban and rural areas worldwide.
- Factors driving this trend include urbanization, shifts in lifestyles, and changes in employment profiles for both women and men.
- Longer commuting times also contribute to the increased consumption of processed foods in these areas.
Urban vs. Rural Consumption Patterns
- The report challenges the conventional notion that consumption patterns differ significantly between urban and rural areas.
- Findings indicate that the diffusion of processed foods is extensive and similar across the rural-urban continuum.
- In both high and low-food-budget countries, processed foods make up a substantial share of overall consumption, with urbanization not being the sole driver.
Global Food Insecurity
- Food insecurity, particularly moderate or severe food insecurity, remained largely unchanged globally for the second consecutive year.
- These levels are, however, significantly higher than Pre-Covid-19 pandemic figures.
- The report highlights that approximately 29.6% of the global population, corresponding to 2.4 billion people, experienced moderate or severe food insecurity in 2022.
- Among them, roughly 900 million individuals (11.3% of the global population) faced severe food insecurity.
- Among the nine South Asian countries, India had the third highest prevalence of undernourishment (233.9 million) in the total population, after Afghanistan and Pakistan, the analysis showed.
- The share of undernourished people in India, however, had come down from 21.4% of the population in 2004-06 to 16.6% in 2020-22.
- Low-income countries were the hardest hit by hidden costs of agrifood systems, which represent more than a quarter of their GDP, as opposed to less than 12% in middle-income countries and less than 8% in high-income countries.
Future Projections and Undernourishment
- The report projects that by 2030, nearly 600 million people are expected to suffer from chronic undernourishment.